Texas Tech Faculty Empower Youth Through Research and Advocacy
Three Texas Tech University faculty members are turning young people into researchers and advocates through an innovative partnership with the South Plains Food Bank.
Paulina Velez-Gomez and Sara Dodd, from the College of Health and Human Sciences, as well as Trent Seltzer, from the College of Media and Communications, recently received the President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award from Texas Tech's Office of Outreach and Engagement for their project, "Growing GRUB: Empowering Youth and Program Leaders through Research, Communication, and Advocacy."
The award recognizes their work with GRUB, an urban agricultural education program in Lubbock that focuses on youth development for at-risk young people ages 12 to 17.
GRUB, managed by the South Plains Food Bank, provides participants the opportunity to learn technical agricultural and leadership skills through managing a 5.5 acre farm.
But the Texas Tech team saw potential to expand the program's impact.
"We are working with South Plains Food Bank and their Youth Development Program, formerly called GRUB (Growing Recruits for Urban Businesses)," Seltzer said. "The training we offer is a form of youth participatory action research (YPAR); these types of projects teach youth how to conduct research on an issue of importance to them and then present that research to decision makers to advocate for change."
Identifying Community Needs
In spring 2024, the three faculty members met with South Plains Food Bank leadership to identify program needs and collaborative opportunities.
Three primary needs emerged: offering youth additional educational opportunities not currently available, developing formal evaluation methods for participant outcomes, and rebranding the program to raise community awareness and address misperceptions.
The team launched their engaged scholarship project in fall 2024, grounding it in Community-based Participatory Research and Youth Participatory Action Research approaches.
"Our spin on YPAR is to guide the youth participants in developing skills to conduct their own research and applying those skills to a specific issue or problem impacting their individual and community contexts," Seltzer said.
The current focus involves youth conducting strategic communication research to provide the South Plains Food Bank board of directors with recommendations on rebranding and promoting the program.
Empowering Youth Voices
What sets this project apart is who drives the research process.
"They do everything; this is all driven by their ideas and decisions," Seltzer said. "We just mentor them through the process. This is important because the youth need to be invested in the project and feel a sense of ownership. They need to see that they are capable and empowered to tackle these kinds of challenges."
The approach aligns with the faculty members' research interests and expertise.
"Recently, my research interests have gradually shifted toward addressing child and adolescent mental health issues; Paulina and Sara already have a long history of working to promote adolescent well-being," Seltzer said. "The YPAR approach is an opportunity to combine our skills and experience in a setting that can help youth develop a sense of mastery, resilience, and protective factors that mitigate the risks of developing mental health issues."
For Velez Gomez, the project represents a perfect intersection of her research focus areas.
"Youth participatory action research has gained a lot of attention in the field of youth development," Velez Gomez said. "This approach combines two of my research interests: youth development and engaged scholarship. By empowering youth with the tools necessary to advocate for the causes they care about, we are helping them make a positive impact in their community, while also developing competencies and skills that will benefit them throughout their adolescent years and beyond."
Surprising Discoveries
The faculty members have been impressed by what they've learned from their young research partners.
"I've been surprised by how passionate the youth participants are about the opportunity to inform the community about their youth development program," Seltzer said. "They want to help the program itself, but more importantly, they want to find other youth who can benefit from the program in the same way they have."
The youth have also embraced the research process itself.
"I've also been encouraged by their willingness to learn about the research process and how they've made connections between what we're doing and applications in their lives," Seltzer said.
Velez-Gomez has observed growth in the participants' confidence and capabilities.
"I have enjoyed seeing how youth grow in their confidence to work toward the issues they care about and feel competent to address them," Velez Gomez said. "They have great ideas, and I'm glad to see that they're having the opportunity to work towards developing them."
Long-term Impact Goals
The team hopes participants will carry their new skills beyond the immediate project.
"Ideally, the youth will come away with research, communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills that will help them find and leverage their own voices, thus empowering them to tackle other problems in their communities," Seltzer said.
The project aims to give youth transferable skills that will serve them academically and professionally, while also equipping them to become advocates for causes they care about in their communities.
Recognition and Broader Significance
The President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award holds special meaning for the team.
"It's a tangible sign that TTU truly values engaged scholarship and sees it as an essential aspect of what we do as faculty members," Seltzer said.
The project also demonstrates the value of university research to the broader community.
"At a time when the public is being led to question the value of funding research conducted at universities, this project, and others like it at TTU, can demonstrate the potential return on investment of taxpayer dollars in university research and place the public's trust in science," Seltzer said. "These projects affect real people and real communities, and they wouldn't be possible without public support."
The South Plains Food Bank partnership exemplified the ideal community collaboration the faculty sought.
"The SPFB youth leadership program was a great fit when looking for community partners, as their program aims to provide youth with life skills and prepare them for life after high school, while working to support their communities through agricultural and leadership programming," Velez Gomez said.
Through Growing GRUB, Texas Tech faculty are proving that meaningful research happens when universities step outside their walls and put community voices, especially young ones, at the center of the work.